A group of black voters is challenging Mississippi’s racist, Jim Crow-era laws that try to give a decided advantage to white candidates vying for statewide office, ahead of a critically important election for governor that is expected to totally remake the state’s redistricting process.
The group is represented by a foundation affiliated with former Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which is tasked with pushing for fair election maps.
Four African American voters filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court of Southern Mississippi on Thursday, challenging the state’s 1890 Constitution that set racist election rules.In Mississippi, winners of statewide office have to clear two hurdles. They not only have to win a majority of the state’s popular vote, but a majority of House districts as well. Lawmakers get to pick a winner if a candidate fails to satisfy both criteria.
According to the lawsuit, the state Constitution was written by white supremacists who tried to ensure that the newly enfranchised African American population never took political control in the state.